lube - what to apply where, and how often?

[__tk__]

i'm just wondering what is the right lubricant for each of the components. i have white lithium grease and some 3-in-1 oil, but not sure which to use? does it matter?

should i use the grease or oil on the gears inside the differential cases? what about the pinion/spur gear mesh? i guess those are the only two areas i have questions about.

[johnh2005]

On the gears inside of the diff case you can use just about any grease you want to. I personally have some Super Lube made with Syncolon (PTFE) I got at Ace Hardware. When I redo my gears I clean them really well then I put them back in the case and slightly squeeze the tube as I rotate it. These are NOT something that needs to be packed in grease. Just enough to give them a good coating. If you stuff the diff case with it it will just be pushed out and collect dirt and dust. I tried white lithium grease from a spray can. It was just too light. I am not sure what "weight" of grease you need I just know that white lithium from a can was way too light and the stuff I have seen used to grease heavy machinery. Sorry if that is not very helpful.

When/if you take your bearings apart the 3-in-1 oil can be used there. Just make sure you do NOT over oil them. Any excess oil/grease will serve just to attract more dirt and dust. You can also point a single drop anywhere there is metal that moves (like the ball joints). Just wipe off any excess. I personally use 5w20 Royal Purple oil for this. I had an extra quart sitting around and it seems to work fine.

As far as I know the Pinion/Spur do NOT get grease or oil. At least I have never put any on mine. Which thinking about it now seems odd...

Keep WD-40 as far away from your truck as you can. It is a SUPER dirt attractant. Well, you can use it to remove adhesives and oil petroleum products. Just make sure to clean up the mess really well.

[__tk__]

thanks john-- glad to hear the grease is whats used in the diff case. i got my 2400 running today (after two weeks of down time, it was great to run the truck!) but it seemed a bit hotter than i expected after some light running, so i was thinking it was the grease. i am going to pick up a thermal gauge tomorrow to get an accurate reading of the temp.. maybe i'm just being too cautious. after 2 weeks of down time i dont want a stupid error to put me back any more $ and time away from the truck

[johnh2005]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of sorry.

[Dknuckles]

We use wd-40 to clean our bearings. We let them dry and oil them with Acer sin bearing lube. My kids enjoy cleaning them with the rpm bearing blaster. Makes them feel responsible. I figure that a bearings costs's about 1.25$ so It's ok to toss them out as they go bad. I've heard people say not to use the wd-40 to cleam them with, but we never had a problem since we dry them out before oiling them. We run in dirt and sand every week....

[johnh2005]

I soak mine in WD-40 as well. Then I take the seals out and soak them some more. Snap the lid on the little tupperware bowl and shake them around really good. Then I take them out to the garage and blow them out really good. Hit them with some foam cleaner. Dry them. Then oil them with 5w-20 Royal Purple. Then blow the excess oil out.

And yeah, you can get decent bearings (better than the stock ones) for about $1 each, but I like cleaning... Its the detailer in me. I need to upgrade to some nice Boca bearings then I won't feel so bad for spending so much time cleaning something that is easier and cheaper to replace...

[Dknuckles]

I soak mine in WD-40 as well. Then I take the seals out and soak them some more. Snap the lid on the little tupperware bowl and shake them around really good. Then I take them out to the garage and blow them out really good. Hit them with some foam cleaner. Dry them. Then oil them with 5w-20 Royal Purple. Then blow the excess oil out.

And yeah, you can get decent bearings (better than the stock ones) for about $1 each, but I like cleaning... Its the detailer in me. I need to upgrade to some nice Boca bearings then I won't feel so bad for spending so much time cleaning something that is easier and cheaper to replace...

I'm debating on picking up some ceramic boca bearings myself. The one cheap replacement ones we use now are Boca's and better than the stock I think...